The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “God” as “the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe,” which is indeed how we generally perceive this mysterious conceptual being. However, upon reading and analyzing Genesis—as a piece of literature—early this year, several of God’s characteristics and personality traits not generally advertised boldly stood out. The redactors, whether intentionally or not, portrayed God as rather normal and human.
Undeniably, He is ambitious, as illustrated when He seemingly randomly decides to craft the universe as we know it on a whim. But God reveals self-doubt through his incessant demanding of altars and ceremonial sacrifices. He constantly feels the need to form eternally binding alliances with little humans to secure devoted followers and assert his role as Supreme Being. God nurses a penchant for demolishing the world when a solution doesn’t easily appear or when things don’t go His way.
This project, consisting of a previously unknown conversation recording and script, character analyses, dialogue analysis, a reflection, and a Webspiration chart, is an exploration of God's hidden features; it brings in Abraham, another interesting character, to develop these hidden sides of a God we think we all know.
Just how many times did God destroy the world?
For the time being, please clear your mind of any religious standpoints you may hold and focus on this as an academic, creative project. Audiocast
Dialogue
introductory music
Narrator: A moody God paces back and forth in His study, pausing to impatiently drum his fingers on his desk and look down at the world below. He is waiting for His friend and loyal subject, Abraham to arrive for their habitual after-dinner chat. At home in his natural Heavenly surroundings, God feels free to unleash His divine worries and burdens and act...almost human. He sticks His head out the door. God: Abraham. Abraham! ABRAHAM!
Abraham: Coming, I'm coming, give me a sec!
footsteps pounding up the stairs door bursting open
God(joking, but with a hint of worry): Finally! I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me. Coffee?
Abraham: Thanks.
God: You haven't, have you? I mean, you haven't gone and forged a secret alliance with Adam, and been having secret meetings at night while I'm sleeping...never mind, don't let's be silly. That would NEVER happen.
So as I was saying-- gasp! Secret code names! You guys have come up with secret code names, haven't you? I bet Adam's is SuperSerpent040, and you're ZeChosen1... and a secret handshake! I bet there's a secret handshake involved, isn't there?
Abraham: Ah, I see. You're in one of your moods again, aren't you? Tsk, tsk, tsk. You shouldn't do that, you know. It's not good for your health.
God: What, a mood, Me? Hmph, ha ha. Abraham, the Lord, your God, does not get into "moods." What a disgusting, highly mortal thing.
laugh laugh laugh ha ha ha
Abraham (calmly): And my loyalties will NEVER lie with Adam. He's so...undignified. God— I'm your man, 100%.
God: Alright, Abraham. Never mind, I must have just gotten myself worked up. You see, I'm starting an exciting new project! How'd I get the idea, you ask?.... No clue! None at all! It just sort of...popped into my mind, if you know what I mean.
Abraham (mutters): Here we go again.
God: So look here, Abe. I have the layout right down here. It's my master plan to renovate Heaven, Earth, and throw in a few more planets with human-like things. And I'm tired of the animals down on Earth. I want something novel...electrifying....fresh! You know what I mean?
Abraham: Yes, just like last week when You called me in here to tell me You had decided to turn all the humans purple. And the week before when You were going to supply them each with their own personal genie. And the week before that when You decided that You didn't like having stars in the sky and flowers on the ground, and planned on reversing that. And then the week before that when You thought it’d be more interesting for it to rain chocolate milk instead of plain water. YES, I know what You're talking about.
God: Right, right, right. So here's what I've been thinking. It's bland up here. You know how we should travel around here? By roller coaster. And the angels! They just...float everywhere. I'm thinking personalized jetpacks under their wings, to liven things up a bit. Flashing neon signs, you know, stuff like that.
God's new vision
Abraham: Boy, are you, um, well, enterprising. Though actually, now that you mention it, I wouldn't object to a Ferris wheel or two. And I’d love a jetpack. My! You always make me see it Your way, don’t You? So charismatic, God!
God: Mmm, thank you.
Abraham: But I was thinking about what you said earlier. About renovating the Earth portion. Well, do you think that's very...wise?
God: What do you mean?
Abraham: I just mean that they seem to wear you pretty thin. You're always worrying about them, getting irritated, and frankly, I don't think they deserve all that attention and would-be luxury of an Earth makeover. I'm just trying to think of what's in your best interest, God. I want everything to be smooth-sailing for You; You know how devoted I am to You. I'd do anything for You!
God: Yes, yes, yes, I know, you're the most loyal friend servant subject I've ever had.
But you’re right, now I do see a real problem! I can't believe I'd overlooked this before. Why, just look at them!
Abraham: Them?
God: Yes, them! Those earthlings down there I created last week or a hundred thousand years ago or something like that. I mean, just look at them!! (now highly irritated)Grrrr I just can't stand it! And they don't listen to me, do they?
Why do I owe them anything?
Even worse, some don't think I even exist! Can you believe that? Me! The Big G-O-D! The omniscient, omnipotent one! I could pick one of them up and squish it between my fingers without even trying, and they're oblivious to Me! They show no love, no devotion at all...
Abraham: Oh, that's just terrible! But it can't be true! You're wonderfully amazing! I love You, as do all of us up here, and as do, I'm sure, millions down there.
God (sighs): Perhaps. And then I feel bad for acting up, and taking my anger out on them. They don't know anything, and they can't see me the way I can see them. Just between you and Me, I still feel bad for flooding the world that one time with Noah (though, of course, I'd never tell him that!). And I am completely aware that I deceived him with that covenant that I'd never FLOOD the world again. Why, merely seven hundred years later, I sent sulfur and flames down on those little cities.
At the time, I thought it was best. I mean, what would you do?? But in retrospect...I just don't know. And I want them to like me! Surely knocking down their towers, killing their firstborns, letting the righteous one be enslaved for lifetimes, and sending clouds of destructive locusts isn't the best way to make myself popular. Oh, they don't like me, do they?
Abraham (reassuringly): Nonsense, God, sure they do! And you know that I like you! You're great! We all like you up here. You can't even imagine how much I appreciate You. And since you're, what, a million times bigger and more important, your mistakes can be proportionately larger.
God (cheered up): I see what you mean, Abe! You're right! I shouldn't be harboring this animosity at all. I'm above it! I should coexist with them in harmony; we can be friends! Maybe they do deserve this redecoration, after all!
Abraham: They might just, God. You sure do put things into perspective for me. As long as You feel confident in this, I completely agree with you.
God: You’re always so encouraging and receptive of my ideas, Abe! Well will you look at that! They're making something. From up here, I can't tell what it is, but it looks amazing, even from this distance! Wow, look at it gleaming in the sun! Whoa, is that impressive or what? Wow, it's perfect! Look at that, Abe!
But it's...it's...it's perfect!
But I'm the only one who can be perfect! They're rivaling me!
Abraham: How can anyone rival You, God? You're perfect, always the winner. No one else could ever beat you.
God: That's it, Abe! They're going to reach me, they'll invade Heaven! Oh, this is annoying. Knock down my door, mess up my carpet, steal my friends for themselves--
Abraham: I'm your friend. They'll never steal me. I'm your best friend.
God (as if He didn't even hear Abraham): -mess up my covenants... (loud, decisive tone) Alright, Abe! That's it. I've reached my limit. I shouldn't have made Earth, what was I THINKING? And I was planning on HELPING those miserable mortals?
Change in plan, Abe. I'm going to do it once and for all. Earth people, you're going down! In ten seconds, Abe, I'm going press the Earth Self-Destruction Button.
Abraham: The WHAT?
God: The Earth Self-Destruction Button.
Abraham (incredulously): You're bluffing!
God: My dear Abraham, the Lord your God with a Hallowed Name does not bluff. It was a last-minute addition I put in on the seventh day. It's top-secret, and you wouldn't believe the junk I had to put up with to install it. Invisible contracts, make-believe insurance policies, meetings with non-existent lawyers, blah blah blah...but you're distracting me! I have things to do! Ten. Nine. Eight.
Abraham: Quit it, you're not serious, are you?
Wait- God- what are you doing? Move your holy hand away from that! (flustered) I mean, if You really want to do this I...I-I guess am behind you all the way-
God: Be quiet. I have business to attend to. Seven. Six.
Abraham: -but I just don't think this is a good idea! You're God! How can you have this inferiority complex?
God (tauntingly): Five. Four.
Abraham: I mean, what do you think? We're not loyal to you or something up here? How could you even formulate that thought in your head? What signs have I shown that I don't like you, that I'm not loyal? We're best friends, we do everything together!
God (loudly, seriously): I'm not listening! Three. Two. One and a half-
Abraham (desperately): Don't! Dramatic noise and/or alarm
Genesis and Artwork Analysis
Although God comes across as rather ambitious, oddly, He suffers from insecurity. God radiates while suspended in a cloud-filled ethereal universe above Earth, His cloak billowing, in Creation, Day One , a monochromatic piece by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. His intense expression reflects a corresponding demeanor: through His soul-penetrating stare, God wordlessly conveys an ambitious belief in His capabilities. This artwork is obviously inspired by God’s fashioning of the universe, an immeasurably vast project to begin on a whim, as God appears to have done in Genesis.1. Because of His highly-motivated personality, God embraces this task and completes the stars, sky, sun, moon, sea, animals, vegetation, and human beings in less than one week. He crafts humans in His own image, revealing that He sees His form as perfection, a belief stemming from a healthy dose of self-motivation, a key ingredient in ambition. Later, He wipes the slate clean with a divine flood and embarks on the daunting task of recreating the entire world yet again without a second thought.
However, beneath this ambitious façade, God harbors an equally intense lack of confidence. As the people of Babel erect a tower of lofty height, God reflects, "'Look, they are one people, and they all have one language; and that is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them,'” (Gen.11.6) before scattering His people, leaving the menacing building incomplete in an effort to put His mind at ease. How ironic that God, Almighty Creator, Omnipotent Being, feels intimidated by the very people He brought into existence! Now that “impossib[ility]” no longer exists for humanity, they can survive—thrive, even—without God, invading His territory and threatening Him. Years later, once God has established His Chosen people, he hungrily demands altars built, libations poured, and sacrifices made in His name. This childish craving for attention yet again highlights God's insecurity. Even so, one person certainly does not notice this less-than-admirable trait his Lord possesses: Abraham.
As Abraham is open to the awesome messages of God, he can effortlessly express his feverish loyalty to the imposing protagonist. While Abraham Feeds Three Guestsin O.A. Stemler’s illustration, he welcomingly extends his hand, outstretched in the universal symbol of hospitality and willing reception. Through this small gesture, Abraham, thoughtfully opening himself up to others, reflects easy acceptance. By accepting his status as one of God's Chosen People, Abraham had already welcomed the intrusion of a majestic, invisible talking being from the sky into his presumably once-normal life.
Blinded by a desire to accept the mysterious, Abraham develops a deadly sense of loyalty. Upon Moriah, impassioned by love of God, "Abraham reache[s] out his hand and t[akes] the knife to kill his son" (Gen.22.10). The word "kill," which implies cold, heartless lack of emotion, strongly juxtaposes with "son," which simultaneously evokes
ideas of compassion, relationship, and flesh. Out of devotion to God, Abraham is ready to let the his dead knife sever the sacred father/son connection. This is not the only time Abraham is prepared to abandon family over his Lord: years ago, with no doubt of his sanity, he had left his homeland and most of his family behind to heed God's call.
Dialogue Analysis
God’s unstable personality shines through during His conversation with Abraham in Heaven; His zealous determination to embark on new projects exists alongside His shaky self-confidence, which leads to an internal conflict as these two juxtaposing traits battle it out until the end. God calls Abraham up to visit with Him in order to share His big new project. Like the idea to create Earth seemingly out of the blue, God has come up with the plan to “‘renovate Heaven, Earth, and throw in a few more planets’” (Minot 2), with “‘something novel…electrifying…fresh!’” (Minot 2). He Himself cheerily admits that He has no clue where the concept came from; it simply arrived. Turning Heaven into a virtual theme park would prove to be a rather ambitious project, only to be dreamt up by an equally ambitious thinker. Abraham’s exasperated response indicates that God, pulsing with creative energy, frequently experiences episodes like this, but looses direction before actually channeling said energy. This hearkens back to God’s lovingly creating Earth then destroying the entirety/cities because of His inability to cope.
Perhaps the reason God never completes these impressive projects is not simply because of a loss if interest . . . it could stem from a subconscious lack of belief in self, that is, inhibition. He certainly reflects insecurity throughout the entire conversation, sometimes subtle, other times loud and shameless. God goes as far to believe that Abraham and Adam have “‘forged a secret alliance… and been
"...destroying the world yet again."
having secret meetings… [and] come up with secret code names… and a secret handshake’” (Minot 1) simply because Abraham dawdled on the way up to God’s study. God reads far too much into innocent situations, working Himself up into a state, which is only intensified by His insecure predisposition.
Never recovering from this initial shock, God continues to worry about His popularity among the humans for the duration of His conversation with Abraham. His behavior starts to border on paranoia towards the end when a human construction catches His all-seeing eye. Even though He “‘can’t tell what it is’” (Minot 3), He recognizes it as “‘amazing…! …gleaming in the sun…impressive…perfect!’” (Minot 3) and interprets this as a rivaling action made by humans. This, upsetting God’s precariously balanced state of mind, finally pushes God around the bend, and He proceeds to press the Earth Self-Destruction Button, destroying the world yet again.
Reflection
I am confident in the crystal clarity that the fact that God is completely flawed astounds me; if this has been suggested, I have succeeded in my endeavors!
When I initially embarked upon reading Genesis, I expected to be bored by the stories and characters drilled into my mind from the age of six when I began my Catholic education. Was I ever in for a surprise!
As I progressed along in Genesis, God’s insecurity brightly shone through. The realization that I had been lied to for the past years dawned upon me, though I actually found God’s character flaws quite amusing. I took this assignment as an opportunity to expand upon my new knowledge, to freely yet indirectly criticize, and to delve into the forbidden region of God’s mind.
So I began with an idea in mind of how I wanted God’s character to play out. Abraham fit in as my accomplice of sorts: I planned for him to develop as needed to convey God as needed (Abraham’s sickening loyalty has always repulsed me, as well.)
While Genesis certainly renders God as ambitious, one of my chosen traits, the protagonist’s insecurity is not so dominant. However, one cannot avoid noticing it, thus fulfilling the requirements of this assignment. I clearly portrayed God and Abraham as desired, a definite strong point of my project.
When I remove any personal attachment to this Wiki page, admittedly I find the actual recording of Countdown lackluster. It meets the requirements: a bit of music, sound effects, articulation, and implication of emotion (particularly on Abraham’s side), it’s just not explosively brilliant. Recording provided a challenge, from actually getting the recording program to work (all hail the technical genius!) to working with my younger brother and trying to get him to understand what I was hoping for, to attempting to make the conversation sound real, not as if we were reading off a script, as we were.
Analyzing my own words proved another difficulty. For the longest time, I could not wrap my head around how to follow the directions without being repetitive, one of the infinite deadly sins of writing. By now, I’ve lost track of the number of close analyses I’ve written, and the process has permanently tattooed itself in my mind: topic sentence, incorporate quote, provide background details, closely analyze the quote, and connect it to a broader concept. The challenge was applying these steps to my own writing, which I felt already proved my points to exhaustion. However, I overcame this obstacle by focusing on my portrayal of God through my writing style, not the Genesis redactors', how I made God appear as I wanted, and how the events built off of one another.
I haven’t exactly learned anything about myself through this project. I’ve come a long way as a writer since September, but I don’t feel Countdown marks a memorable accomplishment or personal conversion. Perhaps it shows my partiality to sarcasm and tendency to over-exaggerate.
Countdown has certainly benefited me: I’ve practiced concisely suggesting specifically desired character traits, I’ve learned to record via computer, and once again tried my hand at web-page design. I like to view every experience as a learning opportunity, and while nothing particularly . . . earth shattering . . . occurred, I did receive many positive outcomes.
About the Artists
portrait of von Carolsfeld
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld * was a German painter who, early on in his career, joined the Nazarene movement, a group hoping to revive spirituality and Christian values and allegories in art. This left a strong impression on the young von Carolsfeld. Years later, he embarked on a period marked by Biblical illustrations such as Creation, Day One. His other works include The Wedding at Cana and Saul Tries to Kill David. von Carolsfeld died a renowned artist in 1872 at 78 years old.
elaboration on the life of von Carolsfeld
An artist with a preference for Biblical subject matter, O.A. Stemler * illustrated several volumes of Bible story readers targeted towards a young audience. Works include Christ Teaching in the Temple, Daniel Refuses to Eat the King's Delicacies, and Peter's Confession, among many others. These images clearly show Stemler's devotion to his figures and expressed topics, as well as being very child-friendly.
includes standard children's Bibles with illustrations by Stemler
Countdown
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “God” as “the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe,” which is indeed how we generally perceive this mysterious conceptual being. However, upon reading and analyzing Genesis—as a piece of literature—early this year, several of God’s characteristics and personality traits not generally advertised boldly stood out. The redactors, whether intentionally or not, portrayed God as rather normal and human.
Undeniably, He is ambitious, as illustrated when He seemingly randomly decides to craft the universe as we know it on a whim. But God reveals self-doubt through his incessant demanding of altars and ceremonial sacrifices. He constantly feels the need to form eternally binding alliances with little humans to secure devoted followers and assert his role as Supreme Being. God nurses a penchant for demolishing the world when a solution doesn’t easily appear or when things don’t go His way.
This project, consisting of a previously unknown conversation recording and script, character analyses, dialogue analysis, a reflection, and a Webspiration chart, is an exploration of God's hidden features; it brings in Abraham, another interesting character, to develop these hidden sides of a God we think we all know.
Just how many times did God destroy the world?
For the time being, please clear your mind of any religious standpoints you may hold and focus on this as an academic, creative project.
Audiocast
Dialogue
introductory music
Narrator: A moody God paces back and forth in His study, pausing to impatiently drum his fingers on his desk and look down at the world below. He is waiting for His friend and loyal subject, Abraham to arrive for their habitual after-dinner chat. At home in his natural Heavenly surroundings, God feels free to unleash His divine worries and burdens and act...almost human. He sticks His head out the door.
Abraham: Coming, I'm coming, give me a sec!
footsteps pounding up the stairs
door bursting open
God (joking, but with a hint of worry): Finally! I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me. Coffee?
Abraham: Thanks.
God: You haven't, have you? I mean, you haven't gone and forged a secret alliance with Adam, and been having secret meetings at night while I'm sleeping...never mind, don't let's be silly. That would NEVER happen.
So as I was saying-- gasp! Secret code names! You guys have come up with secret code names, haven't you? I bet Adam's is SuperSerpent040, and you're ZeChosen1... and a secret handshake! I bet there's a secret handshake involved, isn't there?
Abraham: Ah, I see. You're in one of your moods again, aren't you? Tsk, tsk, tsk. You shouldn't do that, you know. It's not good for your health.
God: What, a mood, Me? Hmph, ha ha. Abraham, the Lord, your God, does not get into "moods." What a disgusting, highly mortal thing.
laugh laugh laugh ha ha ha
Abraham (calmly): And my loyalties will NEVER lie with Adam. He's so...undignified. God— I'm your man, 100%.
God: Alright, Abraham. Never mind, I must have just gotten myself worked up. You see, I'm starting an exciting new project! How'd I get the idea, you ask?.... No clue! None at all! It just sort of...popped into my mind, if you know what I mean.
Abraham (mutters): Here we go again.
God: So look here, Abe. I have the layout right down here. It's my master plan to renovate Heaven, Earth, and throw in a few more planets with human-like things. And I'm tired of the animals down on Earth. I want something novel...electrifying....fresh! You know what I mean?
Abraham: Yes, just like last week when You called me in here to tell me You had decided to turn all the humans purple. And the week before when You were going to supply them each with their own personal genie. And the week before that when You decided that You didn't like having stars in the sky and flowers on the ground, and planned on reversing that. And then the week before that when You thought it’d be more interesting for it to rain chocolate milk instead of plain water. YES, I know what You're talking about.
God: Right, right, right. So here's what I've been thinking. It's bland up here. You know how we should travel around here? By roller coaster. And the angels! They just...float everywhere. I'm thinking personalized jetpacks under their wings, to liven things up a bit. Flashing neon signs, you know, stuff like that.
God: Mmm, thank you.
Abraham: But I was thinking about what you said earlier. About renovating the Earth portion. Well, do you think that's very...wise?
God: What do you mean?
Abraham: I just mean that they seem to wear you pretty thin. You're always worrying about them, getting irritated, and frankly, I don't think they deserve all that attention and would-be luxury of an Earth makeover. I'm just trying to think of what's in your best interest, God. I want everything to be smooth-sailing for You; You know how devoted I am to You. I'd do anything for You!
God: Yes, yes, yes, I know, you're the most loyal friend servant subject I've ever had.
But you’re right, now I do see a real problem! I can't believe I'd overlooked this before. Why, just look at them!
Abraham: Them?
God: Yes, them! Those earthlings down there I created last week or a hundred thousand years ago or something like that. I mean, just look at them!! (now highly irritated) Grrrr I just can't stand it! And they don't listen to me, do they?
Why do I owe them anything?
Even worse, some don't think I even exist! Can you believe that? Me! The Big G-O-D! The omniscient, omnipotent one! I could pick one of them up and squish it between my fingers without even trying, and they're oblivious to Me! They show no love, no devotion at all...
Abraham: Oh, that's just terrible! But it can't be true! You're wonderfully amazing! I love You, as do all of us up here, and as do, I'm sure, millions down there.
God (sighs): Perhaps. And then I feel bad for acting up, and taking my anger out on them. They don't know anything, and they can't see me the way I can see them. Just between you and Me, I still feel bad for flooding the world that one time with Noah (though, of course, I'd never tell him that!). And I am completely aware that I deceived him with that covenant that I'd never FLOOD the world again. Why, merely seven hundred years later, I sent sulfur and flames down on those little cities.
At the time, I thought it was best. I mean, what would you do?? But in retrospect...I just don't know. And I want them to like me! Surely knocking down their towers, killing their firstborns, letting the righteous one be enslaved for lifetimes, and sending clouds of destructive locusts isn't the best way to make myself popular. Oh, they don't like me, do they?
Abraham (reassuringly): Nonsense, God, sure they do! And you know that I like you! You're great! We all like you up here. You can't even imagine how much I appreciate You. And since you're, what, a million times bigger and more important, your mistakes can be proportionately larger.
God (cheered up): I see what you mean, Abe! You're right! I shouldn't be harboring this animosity at all. I'm above it! I should coexist with them in harmony; we can be friends! Maybe they do deserve this redecoration, after all!
Abraham: They might just, God. You sure do put things into perspective for me. As long as You feel confident in this, I completely agree with you.
God: You’re always so encouraging and receptive of my ideas, Abe! Well will you look at that! They're making something. From up here, I can't tell what it is, but it looks amazing, even from this distance! Wow, look at it gleaming in the sun! Whoa, is that impressive or what? Wow, it's perfect! Look at that, Abe!
But it's...it's...it's perfect!
But I'm the only one who can be perfect! They're rivaling me!
Abraham: How can anyone rival You, God? You're perfect, always the winner. No one else could ever beat you.
God: That's it, Abe! They're going to reach me, they'll invade Heaven! Oh, this is annoying. Knock down my door, mess up my carpet, steal my friends for themselves--
Abraham: I'm your friend. They'll never steal me. I'm your best friend.
God (as if He didn't even hear Abraham): -mess up my covenants...
(loud, decisive tone) Alright, Abe! That's it. I've reached my limit. I shouldn't have made Earth, what was I THINKING? And I was planning on HELPING those miserable mortals?
Change in plan, Abe. I'm going to do it once and for all. Earth people, you're going down! In ten seconds, Abe, I'm going press the Earth Self-Destruction Button
Abraham: The WHAT?
God: The Earth Self-Destruction Button.
Abraham (incredulously): You're bluffing!
God: My dear Abraham, the Lord your God with a Hallowed Name does not bluff. It was a last-minute addition I put in on the seventh day. It's top-secret, and you wouldn't believe the junk I had to put up with to install it. Invisible contracts, make-believe insurance policies, meetings with non-existent lawyers, blah blah blah...but you're distracting me! I have things to do! Ten. Nine. Eight.
Abraham: Quit it, you're not serious, are you?
Wait- God- what are you doing? Move your holy hand away from that!
(flustered) I mean, if You really want to do this I...I-I guess am behind you all the way-
God: Be quiet. I have business to attend to. Seven. Six.
Abraham: -but I just don't think this is a good idea! You're God! How can you have this inferiority complex?
God (tauntingly): Five. Four.
Abraham: I mean, what do you think? We're not loyal to you or something up here? How could you even formulate that thought in your head? What signs have I shown that I don't like you, that I'm not loyal? We're best friends, we do everything together!
God (loudly, seriously): I'm not listening! Three. Two. One and a half-
Abraham (desperately): Don't!
Dramatic noise and/or alarm
Genesis and Artwork Analysis
Although God comes across as rather ambitious, oddly, He suffers from insecurity. God radiates while suspended in a cloud-filled ethereal universe above Earth, His cloak billowing, in Creation, Day One , a monochromatic piece by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. His intense expression reflects a corresponding demeanor: through His soul-penetrating stare, God wordlessly conveys an ambitious belief in His capabilities. This artwork is obviously inspired by God’s fashioning of the universe, an immeasurably vast project to begin on a whim, as God appears to have done in Genesis.1. Because of His highly-motivated personality, God embraces this task and completes the stars, sky, sun, moon, sea, animals, vegetation, and human beings in less than one week. He crafts humans in His own image, revealing that He sees His form as perfection, a belief stemming from a healthy dose of self-motivation, a key ingredient in ambition.
However, beneath this ambitious façade, God harbors an equally intense lack of confidence. As the people of Babel erect a tower of lofty height, God reflects, "'Look, they are one people, and they all have one language; and that is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them,'” (Gen.11.6) before scattering His people, leaving the menacing building incomplete in an effort to put His mind at ease. How ironic that God, Almighty Creator, Omnipotent Being, feels intimidated by the very people He brought into existence! Now that “impossib[ility]” no longer exists for humanity, they can survive—thrive, even—without God, invading His territory and threatening Him. Years later, once God has established His Chosen people, he hungrily demands altars built, libations poured, and sacrifices made in His name. This childish craving for attention yet again highlights God's insecurity. Even so, one person certainly does not notice this less-than-admirable trait his Lord possesses: Abraham.
Blinded by a desire to accept the mysterious, Abraham develops a deadly sense of loyalty. Upon Moriah, impassioned by love of God, "Abraham reache[s] out his hand and t[akes] the knife to kill his son" (Gen.22.10). The word "kill," which implies cold, heartless lack of emotion, strongly juxtaposes with "son," which simultaneously evokes
ideas of compassion, relationship, and flesh. Out of devotion to God, Abraham is ready to let the his dead knife sever the sacred father/son connection. This is not the only time Abraham is prepared to abandon family over his Lord: years ago, with no doubt of his sanity, he had left his homeland and most of his family behind to heed God's call.
Dialogue Analysis
God’s unstable personality shines through during His conversation with Abraham in Heaven; His zealous determination to embark on new projects exists alongside His shaky self-confidence, which leads to an internal conflict as these two juxtaposing traits battle it out until the end. God calls Abraham up to visit with Him in order to share His big new project. Like the idea to create Earth seemingly out of the blue, God has come up with the plan to “‘renovate Heaven, Earth, and throw in a few more planets’” (Minot 2), with “‘something novel…electrifying…fresh!’” (Minot 2). He Himself cheerily admits that He has no clue where the concept came from; it simply arrived. Turning Heaven into a virtual theme park would prove to be a rather ambitious project, only to be dreamt up by an equally ambitious thinker. Abraham’s exasperated response indicates that God, pulsing with creative energy, frequently experiences episodes like this, but looses direction before actually channeling said energy. This hearkens back to God’s lovingly creating Earth then destroying the entirety/cities because of His inability to cope.
Perhaps the reason God never completes these impressive projects is not simply because of a loss if interest . . . it could stem from a subconscious lack of belief in self, that is, inhibition. He certainly reflects insecurity throughout the entire conversation, sometimes subtle, other times loud and shameless. God goes as far to believe that Abraham and Adam have “‘forged a secret alliance… and been
Never recovering from this initial shock, God continues to worry about His popularity among the humans for the duration of His conversation with Abraham. His behavior starts to border on paranoia towards the end when a human construction catches His all-seeing eye. Even though He “‘can’t tell what it is’” (Minot 3), He recognizes it as “‘amazing…! …gleaming in the sun…impressive…perfect!’” (Minot 3) and interprets this as a rivaling action made by humans. This, upsetting God’s precariously balanced state of mind, finally pushes God around the bend, and He proceeds to press the Earth Self-Destruction Button, destroying the world yet again.
Reflection
I am confident in the crystal clarity that the fact that God is completely flawed astounds me; if this has been suggested, I have succeeded in my endeavors!
When I initially embarked upon reading Genesis, I expected to be bored by the stories and characters drilled into my mind from the age of six when I began my Catholic education. Was I ever in for a surprise!
As I progressed along in Genesis, God’s insecurity brightly shone through. The realization that I had been lied to for the past years dawned upon me, though I actually found God’s character flaws quite amusing. I took this assignment as an opportunity to expand upon my new knowledge, to freely yet indirectly criticize, and to delve into the forbidden region of God’s mind.
So I began with an idea in mind of how I wanted God’s character to play out. Abraham fit in as my accomplice of sorts: I planned for him to develop as needed to convey God as needed (Abraham’s sickening loyalty has always repulsed me, as well.)
While Genesis certainly renders God as ambitious, one of my chosen traits, the protagonist’s insecurity is not so dominant. However, one cannot avoid noticing it, thus fulfilling the requirements of this assignment. I clearly portrayed God and Abraham as desired, a definite strong point of my project.
When I remove any personal attachment to this Wiki page, admittedly I find the actual recording of Countdown lackluster. It meets the requirements: a bit of music, sound effects, articulation, and implication of emotion (particularly on Abraham’s side), it’s just not explosively brilliant. Recording provided a challenge, from actually getting the recording program to work (all hail the technical genius!) to working with my younger brother and trying to get him to understand what I was hoping for, to attempting to make the conversation sound real, not as if we were reading off a script, as we were.
Analyzing my own words proved another difficulty. For the longest time, I could not wrap my head around how to follow the directions without being repetitive, one of the infinite deadly sins of writing. By now, I’ve lost track of the number of close analyses I’ve written, and the process has permanently tattooed itself in my mind: topic sentence, incorporate quote, provide background details, closely analyze the quote, and connect it to a broader concept. The challenge was applying these steps to my own writing, which I felt already proved my points to exhaustion. However, I overcame this obstacle by focusing on my portrayal of God through my writing style, not the Genesis redactors', how I made God appear as I wanted, and how the events built off of one another.
I haven’t exactly learned anything about myself through this project. I’ve come a long way as a writer since September, but I don’t feel Countdown marks a memorable accomplishment or personal conversion. Perhaps it shows my partiality to sarcasm and tendency to over-exaggerate.
Countdown has certainly benefited me: I’ve practiced concisely suggesting specifically desired character traits, I’ve learned to record via computer, and once again tried my hand at web-page design. I like to view every experience as a learning opportunity, and while nothing particularly . . . earth shattering . . . occurred, I did receive many positive outcomes.
About the Artists
An artist with a preference for Biblical subject matter, O.A. Stemler * illustrated several volumes of Bible story readers targeted towards a young audience. Works include Christ Teaching in the Temple, Daniel Refuses to Eat the King's Delicacies, and Peter's Confession, among many others. These images clearly show Stemler's devotion to his figures and expressed topics, as well as being very child-friendly.
Webspiration Diagram
Sources
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"Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 27 Feb. 2010. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld>.
Kaufman, Scott Barry. "Could Michael Jackson Have Created Twitter?" Psychology Today . Sussex Publishers, LLC, n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://images.google.com/ imgres?imgurl=http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u81/ amusementpark.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/200907/could-michael-jackson-have-createdtwitter&usg=KwCyPbiv6ijJTQIb8hmWQpsvnyM=&h=314&w=450&sz=62&hl=en&start=4&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=QvHnL0oezvQgNM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Damusement%2Bpark%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1>.
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"Standard Bible Story Readers, Welcome!" Joy to You, Spiritual Treasures for Sincere Seekers. N.p.,11 Nov. 2009. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://joytoyou.com/sbsr/Default.htm>. "Study Room Escape Game." Nordinho. Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd., 2000. Web. 15 May 2010.<http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:www.nordinho.net/vbull/attachments/ new-adventure-games/ 31438d1196455173-study-room-escape-game study.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nordinho.net/vbull/new-adventure-games/34110-study-room-escape-game.html&usg=KrZvT3hjqZA3VDz9W8n1FvtGPOA=&h=360&w=501&sz=35&hl=en&start=9&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=_h6h5JBAOsP0eM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstudy%2B(room)%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1>.
"Timer." Google Images N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=timer&um=1&ie=UTF8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi>.
3423339 » 3d Rendering of a Red Button with Danger Written on It." 123RF//. 123RF Limited, 2006. Web.5 May 2010. <http://www.123rf.com/photo_3423339.html>.